Vet Distance

[Dyllymoo]

How far away is your vets?

My current one is around 13 miles/30 mins (country roads) away.

It was great however has recently been taken over by a big organisation and a lot of the vets have left.

I need one that I can trust and also will be able to do the usual visits (injections etc) but also who I can call out in an emergency.

My friend has recommended her vet but they are 40 miles away and over in Essex (I'm kent) so not sure it's appropriate really.

Any thoughts?

 

[teddypops]

Mine is about 35 miles away but I used to work for them which is why I still use them. Your friends vet might not even cover your area so you would need to check that. Also it’s not great in an emergency to have a vet so far away.

 

[milliepops]

I'm 40 miles/hr in the box from the clinic.
The ridden horses will be moving closer next week but the retirees, broodmare and foal are still that kind of distance.
There's usually someone around if there's a problem as it's a big referral practice and I'm well within their area, otherwise I would just chuck on the box and take to the hospital. In a complete dire PTS kind of emergency there are other people locally.

 

[DabDab]

40 miles is a bit far imo. I moved away from the 'local' vets to me a few years ago, for the same sort of reason, service had gradually deteriorated following a large group takeover. I'm now with a vets that are about 45mins drive away and I am just a squeak outside their furthest 'zone' in my direction. So I always pay full whack for callout, but the service and the vets are excellent, and the one emergency out of hours call out I've had with them they got to me within 30mins.

That's about as far as I would go though. You could maybe register at two practices and use the nearby one for emergencies only?

 

[Loulou23]

Mine is about 30 mins away along country lanes. We did have a closer one but they wanted to restart my retired girls jabs from the beginning because she was 2 days late on a booster. The ones I really want are also 30 mins away but we are the wrong side of their cut off for the area they cover ?

 

[Wheels]

My local one who does injections and minor injury first aid response is 9 miles away.

Proper equine vet is 65 miles although a new one has opened up less than 20 miles away but they are just setting up with equipment etc. I might try them next time I have something specific that needs looking at

 

[Goldenstar]

Forty miles is far to far .
mine have a Equine hospital Ten miles away .
I don’t know why you are so worried about the change ours has delivered cheaper care and more choice .

 

[Tiddlypom]

Google maps tells me that my vet horsepital is 8.7 miles/18 mins away, but that is via country lanes, some of which are narrow. When I tow there I go via the much longer but easier for towing A road route, which takes about 30 mins.

They get an equine specific vet out to me very quickly if it’s an emergency.

 

[SpotsandBays]

7 miles? For me anyway, I’d like the reassurance that if anything horrific happened that my vet could get here quickly, (my vets is 15 minutes away).

 

[Sealine]

My equine vet is RVC which is 18 miles away from farm. It's a 30 min drive which is mainly motorway.

 

[chaps89]

Too far. I'm by Heathrow and go back to the Surrey/Sussex borders for mine. But that's mostly because they know her well and we were half way through some lameness issues when I moved away.
I am registered with another vet who is supposed to be very good and is alot closer who I will ultimately move to and could come out in an emergency if needed.

I'd say 40 miles is too far really (and if it's Essex to Kent does that also mean Dartford is en-route as that can properly screw up traffic)
You could maybe register for them if you felt comfortable and wanted to use them if you need something more complex but stay with who you're with currently for vaccs and emergencies?

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

You could register with more than one so you have one nearer for emergencies. Also don’t forget it’s not like all the vets are at the main practice all the time they may we’ll be much closer on other calls or live a lot nearer. It’s more of an issue if you have to travel your horse to the hospital.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

We have a number of equine vets in our area but also probably the worst traffic too.

I'm registered with 2 practices (was 3 but they are now small animal only, but were nearest).
Usual vet v v good, practice is 13 miles away, up to 30 mins by box to get there. They are my nearest equine vets. Until 2 years ago, they were based 2 miles from my yard.
However, out of hours is what always concerns me. All 4 equine vets reside south of the practice which has worked out that on the last emergency call it took 50 mins at 6 in the morning for vet to arrive. Time could have been doubled in Sunday afternoon traffic.

Other equine practice has 2 out of 6 vets v local to me but their practice is 50 mins by box to travel to, but has full work up facilities and hospital on site.

I weigh up situation at the time to decide what vet to call if out of hours. During working hours its practice one tho.

Practice 3 were by far the closest, and I still use them for the dog and cat as are within walking distance from home.

 

[PapaverFollis]

My local vets who are adequate for routine and emergency care are 10 miles away. For anything more advanced (a proper lameness workup for example) I would have to travel for 2.5-3 hours. And further still for any kind of more invasive treatments.

 

[Andrew657]

Currently about two miles away - but moving to new premises that will be closer still

 

[TheHairyOne]

We are techincally out of area, but knew one of the vets and have too many horses so they are happy to keep us. They have been quicker to us for the odd few emergencies than some of the more local ones, but the horses are registered with 2 of the more local ones just in case and our normal vets have no problem with the question 'how long will you take?'.

 

[scats]

I’m 10 miles away from Leahurst. Very handy if you have a colicking Horse on board!

 

[poiuytrewq]

About 17 miles I think, now we live here. Used to be 4/5 so I was worried about that.
Very fortunately when my lovely horse broke his leg recently it was during lock down so a vet neighbour was home and with me in minutes. That would have just been my worst nightmare come true, him having to wait :’(

 

[Melody Grey]

My preferred vet from ‘back home’ is now an hour away by road since I relocated but I still continue to use them for lameness work ups etc as I take the horses in.
For routine stuff and emergencies, I’m not fussy and will take whoever I can get more locally.

 

[Clydiegirl]

I'm 2 minutes walk round the corner from my basic vet and about 40 minutes drive from the equine vet.

 

[Dyllymoo]

Thanks all. Im worried as prices have gone up, good vets have left (and the 2 interactions I have had since they have been take over have not been great).

 

[poiuytrewq]

Thanks all. Im worried as prices have gone up, good vets have left (and the 2 interactions I have had since they have been take over have not been great).

Sadly this seems to be on the increase. Many good practices are being bought out by other companies and the service going downhill whilst the charges go up.
The vets I’ve used for over 20 years and always rated highly are declining massively since being sold and the older partners retiring.

 

[MrsMozartleto]

Ten easy miles from a lovely equine specialist.

Last vet was a one-woman band. She was brilliant and well worth the occasional hop off to a bigger practice. She always prioritised emergencies.

 

[Auslander]

MIne is about 40 minutes drive away - I've used her for years, and she's a good friend as well, so I don't feel the need to change anything. I am registered with a local practice for dire emergencies, but haven't had cause to use them.

 

[eggs]

Same as Auslander (and we share a vet). Never had an issue with her being 40 odd miles away.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Forty miles is far to far .
mine have a Equine hospital Ten miles away .
I don’t know why you are so worried about the change ours has delivered cheaper care and more choice .

You are very lucky,when the practice I used was sold to a chain they stopped treating horses - small animals only.

 

[Annagain]

I'm not too much help as my vet is the yard's next door neighbour. He's a one man band though so backup and the clinic is about 12 miles away, mostly dual carriageway and motorway so about 15-20 minutes journey.

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

Its worth giving them a call. My vet is not too far (30 mins) but the particular vet I see most often only lives 5 mins from me, so she usually sees us first/last of the day!

 

[Nicnac]

Ah Dyllymoo, I think I know who you are referring to. I left them some years ago. I use independent vets - one Australian I've had for years since he left another practice and one (Scottish female) who left the practice I believe you are referring to. Both excellent and 20 mins away from me. So far I haven't found anything they can't do from their incredibly well equipped vans including horse with broken leg and another with broken spine (got to me in 11 minutes for that one!). The only thing they can't do is GA surgery so would refer for colic for example.

 

[Steerpike]

My vet is about 40 miles away, I've never had a problem with them getting to me in an emergency, I am just inside their call out area, they do have several clients my way.